{"id":131070,"date":"2026-05-16T06:04:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/curry-barkers-obsession-has-big-ideas-but-cant-quite-land-them\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T06:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:04:09","slug":"curry-barkers-obsession-has-big-ideas-but-cant-quite-land-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/curry-barkers-obsession-has-big-ideas-but-cant-quite-land-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Curry Barker’s ‘Obsession’ has big ideas, but can’t quite land them"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Michael Johnston stars as Bear, Megan Lawless as Sarah and Cooper Tomlinson as Ian in “Obsession.”<\/span>Focus Features<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Unfortunately, it\u2019s the plot that gets \u201cObsession\u201d into trouble. This is a movie about the sexes that wants to have its cake and eat it, too. The screenplay tries to say something about female autonomy and male selfishness, yet the film plays like an overlong, 108-minute riff on the old reliable stand-up routine subject \u201cgirlfriends be crazy\u201d that never subverts the trope. The depths that Nikki (Inde Navarrette) sinks to in her obsessive quest to own her beloved Bear (Michael Johnston from MTV\u2019s \u201cTeen Wolf\u201d) are not for the faint-hearted (or for cat lovers, either \u2014 you\u2019ve been warned). <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually not the real Nikki enacting such actions as duct-taping doors to keep her beloved inside, or going all \u201cTitus Andronicus\u201d on him with a sandwich stuffed with a surprisingly nasty ingredient. It\u2019s the entity Nikki was transformed into after sad sack incel Bear wished on a cheap novelty item called the \u201cOne Wish Willow.\u201d (In a clever marketing move, Focus Features handed out \u201cOne Wish Willows\u201d to critics at the New York City screening. Nobody wanted to break them!) <\/span><\/p>\n

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Inde Navarrette stars as Nikki and Michael Johnston as Bear in “Obsession.”<\/span>Focus Features<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Apparently made by the same company that supplied Aunt Gladys<\/a> with her killer twigs in \u201cWeapons,\u201d the \u201cOne Wish Willow\u201d grants Bear\u2019s wish that the crush who has friend-zoned him will love him \u201cmore than anything else in the world.\u201d What he probably meant was that he wishes Nikki would suddenly want to have oodles of hot sex with him, and then, to quote yet another sexist stand-up comedy joke, she\u2019d turn into a six-pack and a pizza afterward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only the first part of that scenario happens. Immediately, Nikki gets insatiably horny for Bear. Then, she turns possessive, before becoming the literal embodiment of his wish: she loves him more than anything else in the world. And nobody\u2019s going to stand in her way, including their mutual friends, Ian (Barker\u2019s \u201cthat\u2019s a bad idea\u201d YouTube comedy sketch partner, Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless). They notice something suspicious about Nikki, especially when she abruptly goes from friend-zoning Bear to jumping his bones with reckless abandon.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Bear calls the \u201cOne Wish Willow\u201d hot line for help after things go horribly awry, he\u2019s routed to what sounds like the same call center Demi Moore got sent to when she called for assistance in \u201cThe Substance.\u201d As in that film, there is no sympathy on the other side of the phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Inde Navarrette stars as Nikki and Michael Johnston as Bear.<\/span>Focus Features<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s to Barker\u2019s credit that he doesn\u2019t let Bear completely off the hook, or make him very likable despite Johnston\u2019s perpetual hangdog look. But he also doesn\u2019t do much to make Nikki a real person, either. There are occasional reminders that the real Nikki is robbed of autonomy and trapped in this film\u2019s version of the Sunken Place from \u201cGet Out\u201d \u2014 her screams are bloodcurdling \u2014 but it\u2019s still visibly her committing the film\u2019s atrocities. \u201cObsession\u201d really trips over itself in the last act as it tries to balance the audience\u2019s loyalties. <\/span><\/p>\n

Navarrette gives a fearless performance, bouncing from one extreme to another while attempting to remind us that she\u2019s possessed by a force beyond her control. Even if you agree with me that \u201cObsession\u201d doesn\u2019t work, you won\u2019t forget Navarrette. She\u2019s a powerhouse from the earliest scenes of faux romantic comedy to the grim finale. The performance almost saves the movie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the comparisons to \u201cFatal Attraction\u201d are apt, the movie \u201cObsession\u201d reminded me of most was Takashi Miike\u2019s<\/a> 1999 horror shocker, \u201cAudition.\u201d That movie also had a \u201cnice guy\u201d doing something less than wholesome in order to get a woman. If you\u2019ve seen that movie, you know what you\u2019re in for here, though Miike\u2019s film feels more honest (and is less of a crowd-pleaser) than this one. <\/span><\/p>\n

If Curry Barker\u2019s name sounds familiar, you may have seen his low-budget horror film \u201cMilk & Serial,\u201d a found footage\/serial killer movie he and Tomlinson made for $800. I thought that was a clever director\u2019s calling card for Barker, and I wanted to see what he did next. My \u201cOne Wish Willow\u201d wish for that didn\u2019t backfire as badly as Bear\u2019s, because \u201cObsession\u201d isn\u2019t a complete disaster. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2605\u2605\u00bd<\/span><\/p>\n

OBSESSION<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Written and directed by Curry Barker. Starring Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless. At Coolidge Corner, AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 108 min. R (things get very, very nasty)<\/span><\/p>\n

An earlier version of this story misstated which company gave out willow twigs to promote the film. It was Focus Features. The Globe regrets the error.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n